Download a PDF of the Discussion Guide
The purpose of the FIRSTHAND project is to put a human face on issues facing Chicago and bring to life important stories from personal, firsthand perspectives. In FIRSTHAND: Life After Prison, we follow the stories of five people who share their journeys and experiences of building a life after being incarcerated. These individuals’ experiences illuminate the challenges many people face when they reenter society and seek to have their full humanity restored. This series will help viewers better understand how our nation can assist formerly incarcerated individuals become fully reintegrated when they return home. It also explores the transformative processes returning residents are engaging in for themselves and their communities.
FIRSTHAND: Life After Prison is not a series of stories of “those criminals.” It is about the problem of mass incarceration, which touches many lives across the nation. It is also about the people living in the long shadow of a criminal record who are fighting to overcome barriers and stereotypes so they will have a promising future. FIRSTHAND: Life After Prison allows viewers to walk in the shoes of individuals and families who are confronting significant issues that result from mass incarceration. Life after prison is compounded by a multiplicity of legal, economic, psychological, social, personal, and other factors. These complex situations are challenging for anyone on a journey to restore their humanity and build a life post-imprisonment. By learning from the stories shown in FIRSTHAND: Life After Prison, viewers will be more informed, engaged, and understanding of those who have been incarcerated.
These stories demonstrate the resilience and strength of five formerly incarcerated people living with shame, stigmatization, and legal constraints. We see their endurance, tenacity, and commitment to make a better life for themselves, their families, and their communities. In this series, we will provide an opportunity to discuss the issues affecting formerly incarcerated individuals, paying special attention to the resources that are needed to heal, repair, rebuild, and change the conditions that facilitate mass incarceration and help system-impacted people overcome their past to fully reintegrate into society.
This discussion guide provides questions and resources to help viewers and community facilitators connect with the WTTW FIRSTHAND: Life After Prison series through a personalized reflective learning process. The series puts a human face on the issue of incarceration and reentry in Chicago and brings to life important stories from personal, firsthand perspectives to overcome stereotypes and shorthand. This discussion guide provides tools to understand the complex issues system-impacted groups face post-incarceration, the structural and individual conditions that reinforce their marginalized status as people with criminal records, and the processes and supports that may enable them to overcome their past to build a better life for themselves and others. By helping connect viewers with the five featured participants, the guide will spark conversations about the reality of living with a criminal record and a stigmatized status.
This discussion guide is meant to support community members and organizations, educators, faith community leaders, and policymakers to facilitate important conversations on issues raised by the series. Your screening can spark dialogue that can be used to create restorative and healing conversations or develop strategic and reform policies. You can use the series in the following ways:
We encourage you to use this guide as a tool to organize screening events utilizing the stories in the series. Each story includes overarching themes related to reentry; however, many of the themes overlap. This guide includes the backgrounds of the subjects, discussion questions, background reading and links, and resources that can help you build successful events to engage viewers about the challenges of mass incarceration and reentry and enhance their awareness of how formerly incarcerated people strive to create a life post-incarceration.
Mass incarceration breeds difficulties that stretch far beyond legal court proceedings, conviction rates and sentences, and prison walls. Yet the prison system in the United States has been bloated since the 1970s. From 1972 to 2009, the prison population increased sevenfold, rising from 174,379 state inmates to approximately 1.4 million at the end of 2009, with a total federal and state inmate population of 2.3 million.1,2 Since this peak in incarceration rates, the incarcerated population has declined slightly but still remains extremely high. As of midyear 2021, there were approximately 1.8 million people incarcerated in America’s jails and prisons, down from 2.1 million in 2019 after local and state criminal legal systems sought to reduce people held in confinement because of the dangers of the COVID-19 global pandemic.3
Indeed, a deeper analysis of these incarceration rates disaggregated by race and gender reveals an alarming situation. With respect to gender, the incarceration rate of men is 13 times the incarceration rate of women as of 2017. Yet women, especially Black women, have experienced exponential growth in imprisonment at the state level since the 1980s, outpacing that of men by nearly double the number.4 For instance, the Sentencing Project notes that “between 1980 and 2020, the number of incarcerated women increased by more than 475%, rising from a total of 26,326 in 1980 to 152,854 in 2020.”5 Although the incarceration rate of Black women has been declining, their imprisonment rate is still 1.7 times the rate of White women, while the incarceration rate of Latinx women is 1.3 times that of White women. In general, racial disparity associated with incarceration is starkly evident, with African Americans incarcerated six times as often as Whites and almost twice as often as Hispanics.6
The causes of these incarceration rates and the racial disparities seen in state and federal prison systems are complex and debatable. There are different causal explanations, but they tend to fall into two broad camps. Some researchers and criminal legal experts suggest that the racial disproportionality witnessed in mass incarceration is due primarily to poverty and high crime rates within Black and Latinx communities, while others point to the race- and class-based nature of the entire criminal legal system that works in tandem with a larger structure of racism and inequality impacting Black and Latinx communities.7, 8 In the former argument, high crime and poverty creates high incarceration and racial disparities. In the latter, racial patterns of segregation, systemic racism, and structures of both historic and current inequality marginalize Black and Latinx communities, while the criminal legal system, including law enforcement, target these vulnerable groups at a higher rate. But regardless of the explanations, research reveals that there is a disproportionate effect that disadvantages poor Black and Latinx individuals at every stage of the criminal legal system, from policing to arrests to pretrial detention to convictions and sentencing.9
Moreover, many states replicate similar patterns of incarceration, although some states have fewer overall numbers of Black or Latinx groups in general. By midyear 2022, nearly 29,000 individuals, of whom 54.1% were Black, 32.4% were White, 12.7% were Latinx, and .8% were Asian, Native American, or biracial, were incarcerated in the Illinois Department of Corrections.10 Approximately half of these individuals come from Cook County, and the bulk of these individuals come from and return to seven community areas in Chicago — Austin, Humboldt Park, North Lawndale, West Englewood, East Garfield Park, Roseland, and Auburn Gresham.11 These communities have some of the most intractable social problems concentrated in one area, including high rates of poverty, violence, health disparities, and unemployment, and they represent broader patterns of segregation and disinvestment in Black and Latinx neighborhoods in Chicago.12
With the exception of 2021, Illinois’s figures represent the lowest number of people held in state prison in nearly three decades.13 Yet the decline in Illinois and across the country has not been significant enough to warrant celebration. Even with much criminal legal reform taking place, the Sentencing Project notes that “at the current rate of decline, it will take nearly six decades to cut the nation’s prison population in half.”14
Admittedly, the scale and impact of mass incarceration are overwhelming. Although many citizens support the criminal legal system as it currently operates and while some push for even harsher laws and punishments, a substantial portion of U.S. citizens across the political spectrum understand that the status quo is untenable. In fact, ever since the 2008 economic recession and housing crisis, government officials at the state and federal levels have turned their sights to the nation’s swollen prison budgets and raised concern about the deleterious effects of previous tough-on-crime policies that led to high incarceration rates.15
At the time, policymakers and criminal legal experts agreed that the War on Drugs had created a context in which a large number of racial and ethnic minorities were swept up into the broad criminal justice net and that reform efforts should seek to address drug use and the overincarceration of people convicted of drug-related crimes. In retrospect, this was a narrow conception of the scale of the country’s imprisonment problem because no reforms centrally focused on drug use and drug crimes could adequately address or rethink the punitive approach to violence and people who commit harm.
Nonetheless, one thing that advocates of reform who targeted drug offenders and people incarcerated for drug-related crimes correctly noted was the large number of system-involved people who have a history of drug use or a crime related to drugs. For instance, the rate of substance use for persons on probation or parole is four times that of the general population.16 According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, an estimated 65% of U.S. state and federal prisoners potentially meet Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) criteria for substance abuse or dependence, while more than 85% of the prison population has a history of substance use or has been incarcerated for a crime involving drugs or drug use.17
But drug use and drug-related offenses are only one part of the picture. People who experience incarceration have to face a plethora of challenges that are complex and often difficult to resolve. These challenges reflect not only the problems they face in their communities but also those they face personally, psychologically, and economically.
Research on system-impacted groups indicates that people experiencing psychological distress are vulnerable to incarceration. In fact, people diagnosed with a serious mental illness (i.e., major depression, schizophrenia, or bipolar spectrum disorders) make up an estimated 14% of those involved in the criminal legal system.18 As researchers Emily Gottfried and Sheresa Christopher state, “Psychiatric disorders are more common among criminal offenders than the population at large.”19
Today, many advocates believe that some jails and prisons have become new mental institutions. Despite the criticisms by disability justice activists and scholars that critique this metaphor for wrongly defining the problem as one resulting from deinstitutionalization, the rate of incarcerated people in need of mental health support is large enough to warrant outcry.20
Moreover, system-involved individuals experience higher rates of childhood traumatic events and traumatic experiences during their childhood, although these experiences vary by gender, with women reporting higher rates of domestic abuse and sexual victimization.21 As Beth Richie, a criminologist and Black feminist scholar, notes in her book Arrested Justice: Black Women, Violence, and America’s Prison Nation, Black women are particularly vulnerable to these traumatic experiences and are often both criminalized and victimized without protection from the legal system.22
To be sure, system-involved individuals experience higher rates of both childhood trauma and traumatic experiences during their life than the general population, with some studies showing that more than 90% of men and women impacted by incarceration have experienced childhood trauma.23 System-impacted women are especially vulnerable to disproportionate rates of trauma related to sexual and interpersonal violence and abuse.24 Many of these experiences are complex and overlapping, with many system-involved individuals experiencing multiple forms of trauma, histories of substance use, psychological distress or an official psychiatric condition, and additional circumstantial challenges such as low educational attainment, unemployment, and persistent poverty. Likewise, these experiences impact families and intimate relationships in extremely harmful ways; incarceration compounds these social problems and inequities and can cause additional trauma to those who are held in custody, their children, and their families.25
One or both parents of more than 1.5 million children are incarcerated in the United States. These children face short- and long-term challenges that can lead to increased vulnerability to trauma and juvenile justice and child welfare involvement.26 As a result, mass incarceration is often described as a state-sanctioned form of violence because it frequently causes additional harm rather than repairs or alleviates it. Many incarcerated people return to society with a strong need for trauma-centered therapy and wraparound services.
With the dramatic increase in incarceration rates since the 1970s, an equally large number of people return home every year. Each year more than half a million Americans join a population of more than 20 million formerly incarcerated individuals living in society. Specifically, more than 600,000 incarcerated individuals leave prison annually, and many of them face challenges in remaining crime-free and reintegrating into society.27 In Illinois, an estimated 23,662 former inmates exited state prisons in 2019, with the majority of them returning to Cook County and Chicago.28 A large portion of releasees return to impoverished communities, face employment barriers and discrimination, and have a hard time reestablishing familial and other social bonds and fulfilling expected roles with their loved ones.29
Moreover, while often not a part of the public dialogue, jails across the country process more than 8 million people every year, and people leaving jails are not accounted for regarding those reentering society after a period of detainment.30 With more than 70 million people having some kind of arrest or criminal record, the United States faces an enormous challenge in ensuring that formerly incarcerated people have a sense of belonging, are fully reintegrated into society, and do not return to jail or prison.
Unfortunately, each year nearly a third of the people released from prisons in the United States return within a year, and approximately 62% return within three years and 71% return within five years.31 Comparatively, in the state of Illinois the recidivism rate within a year for those leaving prisons was 38.5% in 2018; that rate increased to nearly 50% for those under the age of 25.32 A report on recidivism by the Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council reveals that it costs the state $151,662 on average for one recidivism event, which would amount to more than $13 billion over five years if the recidivism rate remained the same at the time of publication (i.e., from 2018 to 2023).33 Undoubtedly, a large portion of the people leaving prisons return within three years, and it is likely that the recidivism rate remained roughly the same. But why does this happen? What are some of the reasons for the cycling that occurs in and out of prisons?
Despite successfully completing the terms of their legal sentence, many formerly incarcerated people receive a lifetime of punishment. Christopher Mele and Teresa Miller refer to this lifetime of punishment as the “collateral consequences” or “civil penalties” for having a criminal background.34 Others, such as Reuben Miller, refer to it as a form of “carceral citizenship” — an alternative legal reality that includes a set of perverse rights, responsibilities, and formal and informal exclusions which impact a person’s ability to feel a sense of belonging in the nation, in their communities, and with their families and relationships.35 This means that there are social, economic, and political barriers erected through legislation and popular discourse which restrict, exclude, and marginalize the vast majority of people leaving prisons and those who have a criminal record. In many cases, this post-incarceration punishment devastates their ability to reintegrate into society after completing their formal sentence.
Formally, this punishment manifests as being restricted or excluded from voting, receiving public assistance, working in certain occupational fields, receiving occupational licenses, attaining student financial aid for education, participating in jury selection, living in public housing, obtaining driver’s licenses in some states, and becoming adoptive or foster parents in some places.36 These are just a few examples, but there are many more. Informally, this extended form of punishment grants public access to criminal records for free or for a fee, fosters ongoing shame and stigmatization, and condones discrimination in employment, housing, and education.37
According to Reuben Miller, sociologist and author of the book Halfway Home: Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration, there are more than “forty-eight thousand laws, policies, and administrative sanctions that target formerly incarcerated people” that restrict their movement, hamper their ability to seek gainful employment in many different occupations, exclude their participation in various activities, and essentially make it difficult for them to fully “reintegrate” into society. While these vary by state, Miller says that in Illinois, there are “over 1,400, including more than 1,000 employment regulations, 186 policies that limit political participation, 54 laws restricting family rights, and 21 housing statutes.”38 Although employment discrimination is illegal, formal policies state that people with certain felony records cannot work in health care, cannot obtain a barber’s license, cannot obtain a real estate license, cannot receive food stamps; there are many more such restrictions.
Moreover, these restrictions are amplified for people with certain kinds of felonies, such as a violent or sexual offense. With the rise of sex offender registration and community notification policies nationwide and increasing use of “violent offender registries,” many formerly incarcerated people with sexual offenses are locked out of employment opportunities; are prohibited from living in communities near schools, parks, daycares, or other sites; face direct stigma and threats from community neighbors; and are often explicitly excluded from the housing market.39
Research by criminologists Lorine Hughes and Keri Burchfield on residential mapping and sex offender residency in Chicago demonstrates that, because of differences in neighborhood size and the unequal distribution of legally restricted sites (i.e., schools, daycares, parks, etc.), Chicago’s residency restrictions disproportionately limit the housing options for child sex offenders to disadvantaged neighborhoods — neighborhoods that are predominantly low-income Black and Latinx communities.40
Also, public perceptions about people who are convicted of sexual offenses are often skewed, resulting in an overestimation of stranger predation that does not match how sexual offenses most often occur. In fact, research shows that more than 90% of incidents involving sexual victimization occur by people known to the victim, including close family and friends, and a large number of people with sex offenses were victimized themselves or experienced early childhood trauma.41
Unsurprisingly, the severe nature of sexual crimes and the enduring impact they have on victims, their families, and the public make it difficult for people with sex offenses to escape the pervasive stigma, shame, and punitive attitudes regarding people who commit sexual offenses, although research demonstrates that they frequently have far lower recidivism rates than other offenders.42 The time on a registry is exceptionally long — well beyond the releasee’s parole time — and registrants live with the knowledge that their lives are open to public judgment and scrutiny the moment they return home.
The State of Illinois has both the Sex Offender Registry and the Illinois Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registry, as well as a registry for those convicted of methamphetamine drug offenses. Failure to register can result in rearrest and return to prison. These registries and community notification practices are mere representations of the fear that is a part of the public’s perceptions regarding people who commit sexual and violent offenses.
While concerns for potential harm may be warranted and understandable, broad exclusions and restrictions are not always helpful. Collectively, the policies and practices affecting formerly incarcerated people engender a legalized system of exclusion and disenfranchisement that provides fertile soil for intensifying poverty and increasing the likelihood of reincarceration by creating challenges for people to support their families and loved ones. More importantly, the racial nature of the impact of these legalized barriers is animated by the stark disproportion of poor men and women of color who have criminal records and who are consequently subjected to collateral consequences. While these policies differ in their application and administration by state jurisdiction, collectively they create a web of roadblocks that systematically punish people far beyond incarceration.
Indeed, the marginalization that people with criminal records face does not simply stop at these legal policies. They also encounter informal consequences that are driven by society’s stereotypes, fears, stigmas, pre-conceived notions of dangerousness, and assumptions that formerly incarcerated people will commit harm or a crime. These “negative credentials” reduce the opportunities available for individuals with felony convictions and create a sense of distrust, even among family members. In addition, public access to background checks and background disclosures by the criminal legal system is commonplace.43 Thus, a criminal background is frequently used to disqualify a potential tenant of rental housing or deny a job applicant employment despite the qualifications presented. Because the criminal record signals a liability, a risk, or dangerousness, discriminatory practices against the formerly incarcerated remain prevalent.
Having a criminal record also affects how formerly incarcerated people negotiate their day-today relationships. The shame and stigma associated with their criminal records have a bearing on their conduct and interactions with people from whom they seek support. Again, Reuben Miller’s work is insightful. He shows that one consequence of being a “carceral citizen” is that it creates a situation where people with criminal records are subjected to an “economy of favors,” where they must constantly consider the stakes at play with people from whom they need resources and support. They are compelled to carefully craft their actions and words to minimize perceptions of danger and make others feel comfortable with who they are, regardless of how much they have changed or how much they do not represent their past crimes.
This “economy of favors” is an informal set of rules of conduct that put people at the mercy of others. But at the bottom of it is a stigmatized identity that is always at play: with landlords, with employers, with different human service representatives, and even with family, friends, and potential romantic partners. In short, the weight of a criminal record is tremendous, and its impact is not simply captured in formal statistics. It pervades the social and emotional life of the person living with it.44
Pay attention to the details of the series – the relationships between the key subjects, the references that the subjects make, and the environment that they are in. Pay attention to your own physiological responses. Often, our deepest insights can come when we pay attention to our own emotional and visceral reactions. Choose to not turn away, as your own reactions are opportunities that can lead to meaningful discussions. Stay open to your own reactions to the feelings, thoughts, and ideas shared, as they touch your own fears, anxieties, anger, grief, and joy. As much as possible, make notes of your responses as you watch the, as they can be meaningful during later discussions.
FIRSTHAND: Life After Prison deals with a subject matter that is personal to many people and is filled with issues that are complex, are nuanced and can be difficult to discuss. To create the most productive outcome and maximize discussion, you will want to ensure that everyone feels welcome and safe.
To this end, facilitators might consider sharing these reminders (excerpted and adapted from PBS’s POV discussion guide) with their attendees:
“A Note about Facilitation. This series raises issues that may provoke difficult conversations. Some people may deflect their own discomfort with those issues by focusing on the decisions and behaviors of the individuals and institutions featured in the series. To avoid getting bogged down in unproductive personal attacks, you might remind participants that:
The entire docuseries is approximately 171 minutes long. The expert talks are 61 minutes long. You may prefer to watch portions of the series or focus on a few of the shorter segments. You may also want to allow at least an hour after viewing for discussion.
Although unrated, the series is best viewed by mature audiences and teens. There is little to no visual content that may be considered objectionable; however, the subject matter deals directly with violence, substance abuse, incarceration, and family losses and strengthening. Do not hesitate to ask an expert (social worker, mental health worker, community practitioner, scholar, etc.) to help guide your discussion or be present for the screening and discussion.
The series will raise many concerns that will not be resolved after the screening. Find time to follow up with viewers and offer opportunities for resource sharing with others working on these issues. See the appendices for a list of local and national organizations and resources related to addressing mass incarceration and post-incarceration release.
Subthemes: Substance Use, Recovery and Family Strain
Kyle Hilbert is on a path to recovery. He has been sent to Cook County jail 17 times, has been in prison on three occasions, and has experienced homelessness many times. Kyle has had a long-term drug dependency that developed in high school, but after successfully completing a recovery program, he is on his way to remaining drug-free and crime-free. What does his future look like?
Subthemes: Trauma, Recovery, Family Separation and Reconnection, Treatment Support
Tawana Pope has overcome insurmountable challenges during her life. Having been incarcerated on several occasions for drug-related offenses, she is now a pillar of hope and support for system-impacted people, especially Black women with children. Having achieved a high level of education and success, what does the next stage of her life look like?
Managing Director, Justice Initiatives, Chicago Beyond
Dr. Nneka Jones Tapia describes the universal experience and impact of trauma for people incarcerated and correctional staff inside and outside of the correctional institution in The Humanity We Deserve. She explores the shift we need to begin to heal and achieve real safety.
McCormick Re-entry Policy Coordinator, Community Anti-Violence Education (C.A.V.E.)
Navigating life after incarceration without addressing trauma often leads many people right back into the prison system. In The Hurt, the Harm and the Healing, Orlando Mayorga describes how taking part in the trauma-informed Community Anti-Violence Education (C.A.V.E.) group supported him in learning about trauma, finding his healing journey, and rediscovering his humanity.
Subthemes: Criminal Records, Legal Exclusions, Permanent Punishment, Family Reunification, Reentry Services
Marcelo de Jesus Velazquez spent more than two decades incarcerated in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Growing up in Chicago’s Humboldt Park community, he witnessed violence and abuse as a child and got involved in gangs and drugs. However, having obtained an education while incarcerated and having turned his life around during imprisonment, he is now on a path to rebuilding ties with his family and striving to create a life free from the constraints of his criminal record. Given Marcelo’s long history of incarceration and the way people with criminal records are viewed and treated, what challenges will he face along the way?
Subthemes: Criminal Records, Legal Exclusions, Sex Offender Registry, Family Support, Intimate Relationships
Paul spent just over 15 years in prison and is doing his best to create a life free from the shame and stigma of his past. Having been convicted of a sexual offense, he is now required to stay on the Illinois Sex Offender Registry forever. He knows all too well how restrictive and damaging being on this registry is to his life post-incarceration and how it affects the opportunities available to him. However, with a strong spiritual faith, family support, a great mentor, and a loving wife, he is progressing on his goals and feels hopeful about his future. How can he overcome his challenges going forward?
Manager, Fully Free campaign
In Prison After Prison, Marlon Chamberlain reveals the invisible bars called “permanent punishments” that follow people long after their sentences have been served.
Supervising Attorney, Legal Aid Chicago
In Untangling the Path to Erasing Criminal Records, Regina Hernandez explores the real-life hurdles of one woman’s life with a criminal record and reveals the challenges of trying to expunge or seal a criminal record in Cook County.
Subthemes: Housing, Family Support, Prison Reentry Programs, Employment
Nick Crayton was recently released from prison after serving 24 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Before leaving prison, he spent time at the Kewanee Life Skills Re-Entry Center preparing for his release. It is a program designed for a select group of incarcerated individuals who are expected to be released within a few years. Nick’s progress post-release is noteworthy, and he is motivated to build a successful, financially stable, and productive life. He has family in his corner, entrepreneurial ideas and skills, and a strong commitment to living with high morals and ethics in honor of his victim. What will allow Nick to continue growing and making the life for himself that he so desperately wants?
Program Director, Illinois Justice Project
Returning residents face barriers to housing in the private market, public housing, and the homeless system. In No Place to Call Home, Ahmadou Dramé reveals the contradictions and punishments embedded in housing policies and practices – and the work being done to break through these restrictions.
Consider the stories and life experiences of each individual in the series and reflect on their circumstances and challenges and the victories they collectively achieved.
Reflect on the expert talks and consider what each expert discussed.
Take time to think about how larger structural, institutional, and ideological arrangements impact incarceration, reentry, and reintegration. These broader arrangements may include politics, economics, law, class, culture, race or gender social processes. In reflecting on the FIRSTHAND: Life After Prison series, what structural, legal, and institutional changes may be necessary to reduce incarceration rates and ensure that people leaving jails and prisons are not reincarcerated and are able to regain a full sense of humanity? What steps can you take to start creating change?
While these are big questions, many people are fighting to tackle these challenges head-on. You can join them by taking any number of these steps:
A good source guide can be found at Illinois Reentry Resources, which publishes a guide on reentry resources to help formerly incarcerated individuals navigate the process of reintegration after leaving prison. The guide is called Mapping Your Future: A Guide to Successful Reentry and there is a national edition that may be helpful for people outside the state. This guide can also be given to someone before leaving prison.
At the end of this discussion guide, there is a list of resources that you can read, listen to, and/or watch to help broaden your knowledge. For now, you can bookmark these three online resources in your web browser to periodically read up on the state of the nation’s criminal legal system and reform efforts: (1) The Sentencing Project, (2) Vera Institute of Justice, and (3) The Marshall Project.
These resources are excellent repositories for accessible and digestible knowledge on incarceration, reentry, and reform.
Dan Protess is the executive producer of FIRSTHAND: Life After Prison. He brings more than 25 years of experience as an executive producer, director, and writer, creating content for media outlets including WTTW, PBS NewsHour, Nightline, WPWR, and CSPAN. Dan’s recent work includes the Emmy-winning weekly history series Chicago Stories, which he oversaw as executive producer through two seasons, and the national primetime series 10 that Changed America, which was seen by millions of Americans through its three-season run on PBS. As the founding producer/director of FIRSTHAND, he created the series in 2020 to spotlight Chicago’s gun violence epidemic and has continued to oversee the project over four subsequent seasons as executive producer. In 2022, Dan founded Protess Communications, which produces original documentaries, in addition to a wide range of communications for corporate, nonprofit, and financial services clients.
Dr. Julian G. Thompson is an assistant professor in the Department of Criminology, Law, and Justice at the University of Illinois Chicago. He holds a PhD in social work from the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago, a Master of Arts in Sociology from DePaul University, and a Bachelor of Social Work from Loyola University Chicago.
As a formerly incarcerated individual with more than a decade of experience working with system-impacted groups, Julian served as a victim’s rights council member for the Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council from 2016 to 2019, has organized with Chicago institutions for the formerly incarcerated, and is the former director of the Formerly Incarcerated College Graduate Network, a mutual aid group designed to bridge and facilitate postsecondary education for people leaving prison. He is also an active member of the Prison and Neighborhood Arts/Education Project, where he has taught political education courses to individuals sentenced to life in prison at Stateville Correctional Center.
As a researcher, Julian primarily focuses on the impact of criminalization and punishment on system-impacted individuals and communities, the conditions and consequences of violence and violence governance, and efforts geared toward decarceration and public safety that do not involve the criminal legal system. His current research projects are funded by the Joyce Foundation, the Michael Reese Health Trust, and the Polk Bros. Foundation.
Chicago Coalition for the Homeless – The Reentry Project
https://www.chicagohomeless.org/programs-campaigns/advocacy-public-policy/the-reentry-project
The Reentry Project advocates for policies that address barriers to housing and access to jobs, especially for formerly incarcerated individuals who experience homelessnes
Chicago Community Bond Fund
https://chicagobond.org
The Chicago Community Bond Fund pays bond for people charged with crimes in Cook County.
City of Chicago
https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/fss/supp_info/ex-offender_and_transitionaljobsprogram.html
The Chicago Department of Family and Support Services’ Community Reentry Support Centers assists releasees with workforce training, housing, health services, food, and other basic needs. These are offered through Westside Health Authority and Teamwork Englewood.
Education Justice Project
https://educationjustice.net/reentry
A comprehensive college-in-prison program based at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Envisioning Justice RE:ACTION
https://envisioningjustice.org
Produced by Illinois Humanities, Envisioning Justice RE:ACTION is an online exhibition and activation kit using the arts and humanities to imagine a future without mass incarceration.
Illinois Coalition for Higher Education in Prison
https://ilchep.org/research-and-resources
A coalition of prison education programs across Illinois that advocates for progress in higher education in prisons.
Illinois Humanities Envisioning Justice
https://www.ilhumanities.org/program/envisioning-justice/
Envisioning Justice leverages the arts and humanities to envision alternatives to the enduring injustice of mass incarceration.
Illinois Reentry Resources
https://reentryillinois.net/reentry
Illinois Reentry Resources provides reentry guides and support for people leaving prison. It has two important guides: (1) “Mapping Your Future: A Guide to Successful Reentry” and (2) “A New Path: A Guide to the Challenges and Opportunities After Deportation.”
Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council
https://spac.illinois.gov
This government entity collects and analyzes criminal justice data to determine the consequences, costs, and impact of sentencing policies in the state. It is a resource hub for state-level reports.
John Howard Association
https://www.thejha.org/who-we-are
This prison watchdog assesses the conditions and practices of the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Legal Aid Chicago
https://www.legalaidchicago.org
This Chicago organization helps people get their criminal records expunged or sealed.
READI Chicago Heartland Alliance Program
https://www.heartlandalliance.org/readi
This program targets high-risk individuals and communities with criminal legal involvement and gun violence exposure and experience.
ReEntry CoLab
https://www.reentrycolab.org
This collaborative effort among community-based organizations works to create accessible and impactful reentry services for formerly incarcerated individuals.
Restore Justice Illinois
https://restorejusticeillinois.org
Restore Justice Illinois is a civic organization that focuses on changing sentencing laws and advocating for legislation that impacts incarcerated people.
Safer Foundation
https://saferfoundation.org
Safer Foundation is one of the largest reentry organizations in Illinois and Chicago tasked with helping formerly incarcerated individuals successfully transition back into society. It provides several services, including job readiness and employment and training and education.
Saint Leonard’s Ministries
https://slministries.org
Saint Leonard’s Ministries is a reentry organization in Chicago that provides formerly incarcerated individuals with transitional housing, substance-use treatment, employment services, education and vocational training, and related services to help them reintegrate into society.
Transforming Reentry Services
https://transformingreentry.org
This reentry organization provides Black women who have been in jail and prison with a plethora of supports and services, including harm reduction, advocacy, health and wellness, and economic recovery.
Westside Justice Center
https://www.westsidejustice.org
This legal services organization provides advocacy and legal support to alleviate, criminalization, legal involvement, and barriers to justice.
Woodlawn Community Reentry Project
https://www.woodlawncommunityreentryprojectchicago.co
The Woodlawn Community Reentry Project is a reentry organization located in the Woodlawn community on the South Side of Chicago that focuses on workforce development, education and training, and case management for formerly incarcerated individuals in the Woodlawn community.
Education Justice Project
https://educationjustice.net/reentry
Justice Policy Center of the Urban Institute
https://www.urban.org/policy-centers/justice-policy-center
Pew Research Center
https://www.pewresearch.org/topic/politics-policy/political-issues/criminal-justice
Prison Policy Initiative
https://www.prisonpolicy.org
The Marshall Project
https://www.themarshallproject.org
The National Reentry Network for Returning Citizens
https://thenationalreentrynetwork.org
The National Reentry Resource Center
https://nationalreentryresourcecenter.org
The Sentencing Project
https://www.sentencingproject.org
Vera Institute of Justice
https://www.vera.org
Chicago’s Mayor’s Office
“A Roadmap for a Second Chance City: Chicago’s Working Group on Returning Residents Recommendations”
https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/mayor/PDFs/ReentryReport.pdf
Illinois Policy
“Report: Recidivism to Cost Illinois More than $13B Over Next 5 Years” (2018) by Vincent Caruso
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/report-recidivism-to-cost-illinois-more-than-13b-over-next-5-years
Prison Journalism Project
Women in prison writing about their experiences
https://prisonjournalismproject.org/tag/women-prison
The Appeal
“In Chicago, Rethinking the Link Between Crime and Incarceration” (2019) by Kira Lerner
https://theappeal.org/in-chicago-rethinking-the-link-between-crime-and-incarceration
The Nation
“How to End the Criminalization of America’s Mothers” (2014) by Sarah Jaffe, Mariame Kaba, Randy Albelda, and Kathleen Geier
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/how-end-criminalization-americas-mothers
The Women’s Justice Institute
“Redefining the Narrative” (2021) by Deanna Benos and Alyssa Benedict
https://redefine.womensjusticeinstitute.org
Time
“‘You Have One Minute Remaining’: Why I’ll Always Drop Everything to Answer My Brother’s Calls from Prison” (2021) by Reuben J. Miller
https://time.com/5938898/reuben-miller-prison-family-life
Truthout
“A Jailbreak of the Imagination: Seeing Prisons for What They Are and Demanding Transformation” (2018) by Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes
https://truthout.org/articles/a-jailbreak-of-the-imagination-seeing-prisons-for-what-they-are-and-demanding-transformation
UIC Great Cities Institute
“The Chicago Reentry Report” (2020) by Timothy O. Imeokparia
https://greatcities.uic.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/The-Chicago-Reentry-Report-Final.pdf
Vera Institute of Justice
“Reimagining Prison Web Report” (2018) by Ruth Delaney, Ram Subramanian, Alison Shames, and Nicholas Turner
https://www.vera.org/reimagining-prison-web-report
Vera Institute of Justice
“The Challenges of Reentry” (2016)
https://www.vera.org/the-human-toll-of-jail-2016/a-helping-had-on-the-way-home/the-challenges-of-reentry
Volunteers of America
“Homelessness and Prisoner Re Entry: Examining Barriers to Housing” (2017) by Patricia McKernan
https://www.voa.org/homelessness-and-prisoner-reentry
Incarceration Nations Network
Incarcerations Nations: A Global Docuseries
https://incarcerationnationsnetwork.org/a-global-docuseries
TED Talks
“Community-Powered Criminal Justice Reform” by Raj Jayadev
https://www.ted.com/talks/raj_jayadev_community_ powered_criminal_justice_reform
TED Talks
“How Radical Hospitality Can Change the Lives of the Formerly Incarcerated” by Reuben J. Miller
https://www.ted.com/talks/reuben_jonathan_miller_how_radical_hospitality_can_change_the_lives_of_the_formerly_incarcerated
TED Talks
“The Human Stories Behind Mass Incarceration” (2017) by Eve Abrams
https://www.ted.com/talks/eve_abrams_the_human_stories_behind_mass_incarceration
TED Talks
“What If We Ended the Injustice of Bail?” (2018) by Robin Steinberg
https://www.ted.com/talks/robin_steinberg_what_if_we_ended_the_injustice_of_bail
Prison Fellowship
Reimagining Prison: Making Safer Communities Inside and Out Podcast Series (79 Episodes)
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reimagining-prison/id1327989083
Prison Radio Association
Life After Prison
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/life-after-prison/id1646949340
The Delicious Truth
Episode 8: “Recidivism – Why? Challenges and Benefits of Eliminating the Culture of Repeated Criminal and Antisocial Behavior Patterns in the USA” (2020)
https://www.thedelicioustruth.com/recidivism-why-challenges-and-benefits-of-eliminating-the-culture-of-repeated-criminal-and-antisocial-behavior-patterns-in-the-usa
The Intercepted
“Ruth Wilson Gilmore Makes the Case for Abolition” (Parts 1 and 2) (2020)
https://theintercept.com/2020/06/10/ruth-wilson-gilmore-makes-the-case-for-abolition
Shared Prosperity
Episode 2: “Mass Incarceration, Poverty, and Prosperity” (2021)
https://anchor.fm/shared-prosperity-kalamazoo/episodes/Episode-2---Mass-Incarceration–Poverty–and-Prosperity-e17353t
University of Chicago
Big Brains
Episode 65: “Why Life After Incarceration Is Just Another Prison, with Reuben Jonathan Miller” (2021)
https://news.uchicago.edu/big-brains-podcast-why-life-after-incarceration-just-another-prison
University of Minnesota School of Public Health
Health in All Matters
Season 2, Episode 3: “Race and Incarceration” (2020)
https://www.sph.umn.edu/podcast/series-2/episode-3-race-and-incarceration